Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-06-10
K FOUNTAINS.
THE PERSIAN RIVAL OF pENNsvL-
vAKIA's PETROLEUM FIELDS.

vANlA'S re IHOltuM eLOo
4 Great Tow Built Upon the Spot Here
ssssrs Held Sacred by the Fire wor-
shipping Ghebres-Tweive Thousand
Square Miles OF on Region.
The great town of Baku has now q
coast line Of about six miles, sweeping
around a well protected harbor crowded
with shipping-ships Of all tonnage, all
fitted with tanks to store the oil that
pours from a hundred fountains. From
time immemorial this spot has been
deemed sacred by the Ghebres Of Persia,
who recognize in the fame Of the native
uaphtha a sacred fire symbol. Here for at
least 1900 years the sacred earth fed fame
has burned increasingly, and the temple
Of Surukhani has been a center OF rever-
ent pilgrimage. This native naphtha flows
from the soil In 50 pure a form as to burn
without rectihcation, and Is, indeed, 30 in
fiammable that the naphtha gas occas-
f0nally ignites spontaneously and plays
In pale flames above assures In the rock.
On stormy nights these flames have been
seen to blaze up with an awful spirit
light, which, to the eyes Of the Ghebres,
invested the spot with special sanctity-a
sanctity intensified by the fact that here,
according to Arabian chroniclers, a great
volcanic mountain was In full action till
800 years ago. Since then the thermal
forces have expended their energies on
spouting oil and Herewith saturating the
desert plain Of the Aspheros peninsula;
and truly q more repulsive site for q great
city could not well be found.
It is a plain about fifteen miles in width
and projecting thirty miles into the Cas-
plan from the point where the Caucasus
Terminates on its shores. The whole sur
face Of the ground is black with waste
petroleum, which In cold weather hardens
TO the consistency Of asphalt, whereas be-
meath the blazing midsummer sun the
foot sinks in to the depth Of two or three
inches. Every breath of wind raises
binding clouds of black, bituminous dust,
formed by the coarse black naphtha with
which the streets are periodically IVA
tered" true water being too precious to
be thus wasted. This dust, combined
with the dense smoke poured from the
chimneys Of somewhere about 300 refin-
ing factories, does nothing to improve the
atmosphere. And here, day and night,
the oil fountains Jour forth their hideous
black streams. They yield an average of
from 25 to IS per cent Of pure oil, and
from 20 TO 30 per cent. Of refuse, which
makes excellent fuel for the great fleets
OF oil steamers and locomotives. The
supply may well be deemed in~exhaustible,
inasinuch as $4,000 square miles in this
region are found to be oleiferous, and of
this vast surface only six miles have as
yet been developed. The oil bearing
stratum extends beneath the Caspian,
where il crops up in Tehelikan, a true isle
Of oil Here the oil literally streams into
the sea from hills and cliffs, which may he
said to be formed Of ozokerite-in other
words, Of crude paraflne. On the eastern
shore Of the Caspian it reappears at various
points, 90, for instance, ut the Nett OF
Eaphtha hill, where the deposits are of.
fcially valued 1t f85, 000, 900.
THE FIRE GIANTS SPORT.
Now, the are giant who tends the great
laboratory beneath the Caspian seems to
emulate the example of his brethren In
New Zealand and Tonga. Hitherto he has
been satisfied with such sport as turning
on such an oil stream - that which gushed
forth three years ego from one Of the
Baku spring., spouting with such force as
TO break 70 pieces Q three inch cast iron
pipe which had been fastened over the
wen In order to divert the flow to q diff
ferent direction. A neighboring oil spring,
IN being tapped, threw up q column Of
petroleum to twice the height of the
Great Geyser In Iceland, forming q huge
black fountain 200 feet in heights foun-
tain, however, attributed solely to the re.
moval Of the pressure on the confined gas,
- there II no ~perceptible heat In these
geysers. II WA visible for many miles
around, and on the first day it poured
forth about $1,000 barrels, and, with
gradually diminishing volume, continued
TO play for five months, when il finally
subsidized, leaving its unfortunate owners
ian Armenian company well nigh ruined
by the claims brought against IL by neigh
bors whose lands were destroyed by the
oil flood.
On the night of the 18th Of January
the inhabitants OF Baku were awakened
by o violent shock, which caused all the
windows TO rattle, and suddenly the dark
ness Of the night wa illuminated by an
intense light, as though the city were
afiame. II proved, however, to he the
reflection on the heavens Of n great fire
at o distance; but no one dreamt that it's
locality lay within the earth. Nor was
this realized till the following night, when
the same awful glare became visible; and
shortly before midnight a terrible explo-
sion was heard, followed by a vast column
Of flame, apparently $50 feet in height,
which shot up from the summit Of Lok
Batan, close to the Ponta railway station.
Ii was a calm night, with scarcely
breath Of wind, 30 the flames continued
TO ascend quite vertically, carrying large
masses Of dark matter, which fell bach
into the crater. Considerable heat wal
felt at the distance Of fully q mile, and
the whole country was lighted by a glare
brighter than that Of the sun at monday.
This lasted for about thirty hours, but
not continuously, the column occasionally
subsiding. The volume Of liquid mud
elected In this period overspread a tract
OF about Q square mile 70 a depth varying
from seven TO fourteen feet.-New York
Star.
Steamboat Life In 1915.
Ny first venture In steamboat life was
IN l645. and then I thought II was q very